Baldwin on Blatche return: Some good, some not good

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin continues to pace Andray Blatche back into their scheme of things after missing some time to attend to his ailing mother and the funeral of his uncle in the United States that caused the big man to miss the entire Jones Cup.

In his first competitive game since their Estonia trip, Blatche was still sluggish and was seen to be huffing and puffing as he struggled to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field in Gilas' 93-77 win over Talk n Text at the start of the MVP Cup on Friday.

"It was fun to be out there with the guys again. I was doing fine until I got elbowed in my back and it kind of slowed me down and made it worse," said Blatche, who was not able to join the national team's customary post-game huddle at center court as he went straight to the locker room after the buzzer exhausted from the 24 minutes and 19 seconds he's played in his first game in a month. 

The 6-foot-11 former NBA player shot only 1-of-8 from the three-point zone but he also collected five rebounds, two assists, one steal and shot block against only two fouls and a single turnover. 

The four-team, three-day pocket tournament has been set as Gilas' final tuneup games before they go to war in China for the 2015 FIBA Asia Men's Championship later this month.

While Blatche continues to struggle to hit top form, Gilas coach Tab Baldwin has yet to push the panic button.

“That’s normal, guys, so don’t be surprised.  Don’t make a big story out of that. He’s had time off and he’s got to get the feel back," Baldwin said in the post-game press conference.

Judging from what he saw in Blatche's first game back, Baldwin took the good with the bad. 

"Some good, some not so good. He will shoot the ball better than he shot tonight. His transition (offense) isn't there yet. He's not yet running the lanes for us but one thing that a lot of you don't really see from Andray is his defensive intelligence," Baldwin said.

Gilas sorely missed Blatche in their nine-point loss to Iran where former NBA player 7-foot-2 Hamed Haddadi battered them inside with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Baldwin sees Blatche as the missing gap in that game. 

"He (Blatche) anchors the middle of our defense and he gives that inside presence which we didn't have in the Jones Cup. That was there tonight. It was tough for Talk n Text to get anything around the basket," Baldwin said.

With 10 days left before the real tournament begins, Baldwin hopes that Blatche would get his legs back and shed some excess weight to fit him into what they are running.

"Andray's offense should have to find its rhythm and he's got to get involve in the running game. You could see the pace of our game was pretty high tonight. We got that speed in the perimeter and we need Andray to fill those slots, those gaps," Baldwin said.

He's not yet alarmed though as he keeps his faith on the only legit NBA-caliber player in his 12-man roster.

"It's coming. It's all I can say.  He’s played the game so long at such a high level that it will come back to him pretty easily," Baldwin said.